an ave maria of arcadelt

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An Ave Maria of Arcadelt Author(s): Ralph Adams Cram Source: The Knight Errant, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Oct., 1892), p. 72 Published by: Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25515892 . Accessed: 15/05/2014 04:12 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 195.78.109.150 on Thu, 15 May 2014 04:12:16 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: An Ave Maria of Arcadelt

An Ave Maria of ArcadeltAuthor(s): Ralph Adams CramSource: The Knight Errant, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Oct., 1892), p. 72Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25515892 .

Accessed: 15/05/2014 04:12

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 195.78.109.150 on Thu, 15 May 2014 04:12:16 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: An Ave Maria of Arcadelt

|^^9^^^|n AVE MARIA OF ARCADELT. fflfS^A^B^^ ^e Abbey *s a^ ^im anc* shadowy: a \Eajg^k ^gSM/?! fickle light flickers vaguely on the vast

Kgrim ^Kjyi stone piers that gather themselves mist

HQrjS^k wan ily out of the darkness below and vanish

wSwJSB^Mi YMa *n t^le cavernous night overhead. In the

^r3sm$S& toI Choir t^le monks are chanting their Ves

^uJ^^^SmaSi bers: slowly, solemnly. It is as though *^^^ss^^^^^s* the mouldering stones found voice, sing ing and lauding our Lady.

($*e (glaria, gratia pUna, ?ommus tecum.

The Cantor stands before an oaken lectern fashioned with craft and cunningly of grinning griffins and slim angels: the ,

flaming candles on either hand flaunt and flare restlessly,

and the monk drops his tonsured head over the breviary splendid

with scarlet, and azure and fine gold.

(genebicfa fu in mufiertfius.

Nodding beneath the carved canopies of the stalls, the monks give tongue, and sing. The sound swirls and eddies down the black aisles, and echoes far and faint up under the

bending vaults: the prisoned air throbs with the surging sound.

<?t fonttoictuz Srucfus bcntm fui, %<&?fi&&- <&men.

High on the steps of the Altar the Abbot in crimson cope bows to the ivory trucifix standing pale and sad between the six white candles. The censers

sweep and swing behind

him, and the blue smoke is tossed aloft like thin foam. Then it rises in the upper air and lies still: still as windless water.

Jiancfa (JJtaria, QJtafer ?et.

The monks are kneeling in their places,

and the flickering candle-light plays on their white skulls and

clasped gaunt hands. The incense smoke sinks down in level lines; in such wise the night mist falls in the twilight, where, in the dim valleys, the rivers have gone to sleep.

dra pro nobis peccaforifius, nunc, et in 0ora morfte nostri. $men.

The Abbot and the monks are gone, the candles are extin

fuished,

and only a blood red star remains, guarding the lost. I have fixed my hot eyes thereon, and still linger in

the incense-heavy darkness. Over and over again my lips are saying to my heart, Sancta {Maria, (Mater Dei, ora pro nobis

peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostri. tAmen. Ralph Adams Cram.

72

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This content downloaded from 195.78.109.150 on Thu, 15 May 2014 04:12:16 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions